Bill Kennedy honored for ‘Justice and Compassion’ by Catholic Charities

By BIR News Room
June 1, 2017

Attorney William F. Kennedy of Dorchester received the Catholic Charities 2017 Justice and Compassion Award last week for his inspirational leadership and solidarity with the most at-risk and underserved members of the Greater Boston community. Kennedy was honored at a Catholic Charities event at the John F. Kennedy Library before an audience of over 500 people, including Cardinal Sean O’Malley, Governor Charlie Baker, former Senator Paul Kirk, and Deb Rambo, president of Catholic Charities.

The Wolfe Tones and John McDermott highlight the fare at Irish Fest Boston

By Sean Smith
June 1, 2017
Sean Smith

Wolfe TonesWolfe TonesFolk legends The Wolfe Tones and renowned Irish tenor John McDermott return to the annual Irish Fest Boston, which takes place June 3 and 4 at the Irish Cultural Centre of New England in Canton. Other acts to appear at the festival include the Cillian Vallely Band – featuring Lunasa piper, flute and whistle player Cillian Vallely – veteran ballad/folk band Dublin City Ramblers, folk and country singer Louise Morrissey, Dublin rockers The Stunning, singer-songwriter Mundy, Kerry-based rebel/ballad band Dreams of Freedom, and Ishna, which blends Irish and Celtic music with classical, rock and, contemporary styles.

As always, performers from the Greater Boston area and elsewhere in Massachusetts will be on the schedule, among them Devri, Boston Erin Og, Boxty, Jinty McGrath, Silver Spears, Tradition, The Fenian Sons, Curragh’s Fancy, Erin’s Melody, Cliodhna & Trad Ash Heads, House DJ Sean O’Toole, and the Noel Henry Irish Showband, as well as musicians from the Boston branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann.

Irish Fest Boston also will feature other entertainment and attractions –including the Irish Wolfhounds Association, an encampment of the Viking Irish (recreating Hiberno-Norse Viking culture from the ninth and 10th centuries), hayrides, and games and activities for children and families – a food court and various vendors and exhibitors. Festival information is available at irishfestboston.com.

Biden a surprise guest at Boston dinner

By Rowan Walrath
June 1, 2017
Rowan Walrath

Attendees at the 24th annual New England Women’s Leadership Awards last month received a huge surprise in the form of a bona fide political superstar: former Vice President Joe Biden.

Benefiting the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dorchester, the ceremony presented and honored Donna Gavin of the Boston Police, World Marathon Challenge winner Becca Pizzi, and pastry chef Joanne Chang. Mayor Martin J. Walsh was scheduled to make an appearance, but organizers were only informed minutes before his arrival that he would also be bringing Biden, with whom he’d just had dinner.

For Jocelyn Sammy, a 15-year-old student at TechBoston Academy who works at the Boys & Girls Clubs, Biden’s surprise visit was an emotional experience.

New JFK Centennial Exhibit Features 100 Artifacts

By Ed Forry
May 24, 2017
Ed Forry

“JFK 100: Milestones and Mementos” opens on Friday, May 26 To commemorate the centennial of President John F. Kennedy’s birth, the JFK Presidential Library and Museum is proud to open a new special exhibit, “JFK 100: Milestones and Mementos.” Opening to the public on Friday, May 26 at 11:00am, the exhibit consists of a compelling selection of 100 original artifacts, documents, and photographs which reveal the arc of President Kennedy’s life and political career.

Daniel O'Donnell to Headline at Boston's Shubert Theater May 16

By Maureen Forry
May 8, 2017
Maureen Forry

Daniel O'Donnell will be thrilling Boston fans on Tuesday, May 16 at the Shubert Theatre. Tickets and additional information for his show can be found at the Boch Center Box Office, bochcenter.org, or by calling (866) 348-9738.

Commenting on the tour announcement Daniel said “I’m really looking forward to returning to touring the USA next year. We introduced some new musicians and some different instruments when we went back touring earlier this year and I am delighted to say that they have been a great success, fans everywhere have complimented them on their great talent as musicians and have really welcomed them on board”. Although he took a break in early 2016 to tour the world with his wife Majella, Daniel added “I was really looking forward to going back on the road in America and getting back out there to meet the fans, who I’m so very thankful for, as they are the ones who make these shows happen. We really enjoyed the short set of dates we performed in Oct and are already looking forward to the tour”.

Northern Ireland’s Antrim Coast offers delights and then some

By BostonIrish.com... (not verified)
April 27, 2017


By Judy Enright
Special to the BIR
If you’ve been to Ireland but haven’t visited Northern Ireland, another trip should definitely be on your agenda.
We recently visited the glorious Antrim Coast and stayed at a charming hotel – Beech Hill Country House Hotel - near Londonderry. There is so much to see and experience in the North that two nights there was not nearly enough.

GIANT’S CAUSEWAY
Probably the best-known attraction on the north coast is The Giant’s Causeway, managed by the National Trust, which also maintains some 200 buildings and outdoor places and supports the economy by employing hundreds of local residents.

The Causeway - chosen as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO In 1986 – consists of about 40,000 interlocking basalt rock columns resulting from volcanic eruptions many centuries ago. Most of the columns are six-sided, although some have four, five, seven, and eight sides. The tallest columns are about 39 feet and solid lava in the cliffs can be as thick as 92 feet in some places. This area, like the Cliffs of Moher in Co. Clare, is a known haven for a wide variety of seabirds.

According to one of many fanciful legends, the rock columns are all that remain from a causeway built by the Irish giant Finn MacCool so he could meet and fight the Scottish giant Benandonner. The legend probably began because there are identical volcanic rock columns (assumed to be part of the same ancient lava flow) at Fingal’s Cave on the Scottish island of Staffa across the North Channel.

PEI’s Ten Strings and a Goat Skin trio revel in savoring the island’s traditions

By Sean Smith
April 27, 2017
Sean Smith

“We started very young, so this vocation has really colored who and what we are,” says Ten Strings and a Goat Skin fiddler Rowen Gallant (left), shown with brother Caleb (center) and Jesse Périard at a concert during the trio’s recent New England tour. Sean Smith photo“We started very young, so this vocation has really colored who and what we are,” says Ten Strings and a Goat Skin fiddler Rowen Gallant (left), shown with brother Caleb (center) and Jesse Périard at a concert during the trio’s recent New England tour. Sean Smith photo

Atlantic Canada has made a strong and wide-ranging contribution to Celtic music, especially in recent decades, what with performers like Natalie MacMaster of Cape Breton, Matthew Byrne of Newfoundland and, from Prince Edward Island, Vishten and now the young trio Ten Strings and a Goat Skin: brothers Rowen and Caleb Gallant on fiddle and percussion, respectively, and guitarist Jesse Périard, all in their early 20s. (The Gallants are nephews of Lennie Gallant, an award-winning singer-songwriter and musician.)

Formed during its members’ high school years, “TSAAGS” showcases PEI’s fascinating amalgam of traditions (among them Irish, Scottish, and French) in its own inimitable fashion, blending contemporary material that includes tunes and songs by the Gallants and Périard with centuries-old ballads and instrumentals – all delivered with a robust joie d’vivre and precision. The trio has taken its music well beyond PEI’s shores to Boston and elsewhere in the US, and overseas to events such as France’s Festival Interceltique de L’orient and England’s Shrewsbury Folk Festival, while releasing two albums, including last year’s “Auprès du Poêle.”

Last month saw Ten Strings and a Goat Skin embark on a brief tour of New England that included performances at Boston College’s Gaelic Roots series and The Burren Backroom (their second visit there). During a pause in their travels, Rowen Gallant reflected on the band’s growth and its ties to PEI culture and tradition.

CD Reviews

By Sean Smith
April 27, 2017
Sean Smith

Kate Rusby, “Life in a Paper Boat” • In her two decades-plus career, Rusby has never shown an inclination to stay with the tried-and-true. Hailed for her interpretations of traditional songs, she incorporated contemporary material – from songwriters as varied as Richard Thompson, Frank O’Connor, Iris DeMent, The Kinks’ Ray Davies, and Pee Wee King – used brass arrangements as well as conventional acoustic instruments for backing, gradually changed her core cast of accompanists, and perhaps most importantly, embraced her songwriting ambitions.

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